AT & T exclusive with IPhone: a CDMA killer

The Apple iPhone has been a much awaited device ever since it was announced and displayed a few months back. Due in June, the iPhone will be available exclusively with AT & T, giving AT & T an automatic advantage due to the hype and media buzz around the iPhone. Apple is locked with AT & T for a period of 5 years, an incredibly long time, but equally importantly, in the battle between GSM and CDMA users (Sprint & Verizon), Apple has been prohibited from developing a CDMA version of the iPhone for 5 years. The fact that a leading device is not available on CDMA will automatically give GSM a push up in the standards war. Refer this article:

The Apple iPhone, due out next month, has been breathlessly hailed as offering consumers the ultimate wireless experience. It also could give AT&T, its exclusive U.S. distributor, the ultimate experience for a wireless carrier: an easy way to handcuff rivals and steal customers.
Apple is barred for that time from developing a version of the iPhone for CDMA wireless networks. That ban is no small thing. AT&T rivals Verizon Wireless and Sprint are both CDMA shops. AT&T uses GSM, a global standard incompatible with CDMA.
They also sparred over the iPhone. As previously reported by USA TODAY, Verizon passed on the opportunity to become the exclusive U.S. distributor, balking at Apple's demand for control over distribution, pricing, marketing and more. That left an opening for AT&T — then called Cingular — to cement a deal. (AT&T on Monday officially dumped the Cingular name and store signs now are being switched. The move came slightly ahead of schedule.)

There is intense competition between the major US carriers, AT & T, Sprint and Verizon, with all of them using all possible tactics to get a better market share. In such a case, if the iPhone becomes a major hit, it will give a huge advantage to AT & T, while at the same time, if people are put off by high prices, then it can be a disaster. Also, with the iPhone promoting a much better internet connection as well as songs downloading, more people will use higher data plans, increasing revenue for AT & T.